American captain Clint Dempsey acknowledges the fans after the U.S. team's 1-0 loss to Germany at Arena Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil. The Americans finished second in the group, sending them into the knockout round.

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The U.S. men's soccer team has finished second in its World Cup group, after a 1-0 loss to Germany on Thursday. The Americans will advance after Portugal beat Ghana 2-1.

"This is a huge, huge step, and now we can't wait until round of 16," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said afterward, according to ESPN. "Everyone said we had no chance. We took the chance and move on. And now we really want to prove a point."

Today's two games in Group G — dubbed by many as this tournament's "Group of Death" — were played concurrently. We followed the action in a live blog, which is now at the bottom of this post.

Update at 1:55 p.m. ET: The Game Is Over — U.S. Goes On To Knockout Stage

The U.S. advances to the round of 16 after its loss to Germany, 1-0, and a 2-1 win by Portugal over Ghana. This will be the U.S. men's second consecutive trip to the knockout round. Their next game comes Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, when they will most likely face Belgium (whose final Group H game is this afternoon).

The result left American fans ecstatic — and in the mood to sing, as this audio recorded by NPR's Russell Lewis in Recife shows (we'll warn you: the tape includes some profanity from the excited fans toward the end).

Here's our live blog, for a recap of a game that was marred by wet and slippery conditions and was defined by stout defense by both sides.